Acid Nightmare
by fr0-power
Summary: Bob Bryar comes back to visit the guys, but will it just be a visit, or will he stay?


Chapter 1

_Well are you ready, Ray?_

Bob's phone woke him up with Vampire Money, the last song on Danger Days that he needed to learn on drums, this is the song he would be working on today.

Bob heard his wife's yawn next to him and he smiled, "'Morning Anne."

Anne turned on her side to look at her husband, "'Morning Bob." She giggled, "What's on the agenda today?"

Bob got out of bed to put on a stained tee shirt. The shirt he always wore when he was working on songs, as soon as Anne saw it she sighed and shook her head, she knew that shirt and hated it.

"Again with this Bob?"

"I just wanna… learn 'em. I just wanna be able to."

"You just wanna be back in the band." As soon as Anne said that she knew she had crossed a line once she said it.

"Maybe I do, Anne," Bob seemed hurt, "Maybe I miss it just a little bit, is it a sin?"

"No, you know I'm not saying that," she sighed and got up to lay out a polo shirt, a blue polo for her full time job at Best Buy, she was manager, "but don't you think… it might be a bit too late? You've been gone for a few years now, you're at a different time in your life, you have a baby girl."

"It's never too late," Bob bit the place where his lip ring used to be, he missed it today.

"When I'm working full time at Best Buy, you're sitting at home dreaming. Now I know you can't get a job and don't want to take the risk, and I don't blame you but… you're too old to dream."

"You're never too old to dream."

Anne shook her head. Talking to Bob was like talking to a brick wall. He stood for what he believed in, that's why she was in love with him.

"Well, when I'm at work full time, you can take care of Daisy, you can multitask."

Bob sighed. Daisy was probably up by now and he walked to her room.

He had hung posters of Gerard, Ray, Mikey and Frank over her crib, and every day he would sit there and tell stories to her about her long lost uncles. She always bounced when she heard their names and smiled her toothless smile.

"Hi Daisy," Bob smiled at his daughter, looking over the crib, "Hi. Good morning sweetie." He picked her up slowly, starring into her bright blue eyes, eyes that had come from her father, her head was toppled with her mom's brown curls.

She squeaked a little and kicked her tiny feet, giggling. He grabbed at blanket and cradled her in his arms, bouncing her and bringing her to her highchair and giving her a bottle of milk, the only thing she could feed to herself, fitting the bottle in her tiny hands, she slurped her favorite drink.

Bob stumbled tiredly to his computer and opened his email. His inbox was filled with bunch of spam, nothing too out of the ordinary. He hesitated as he opened his contacts, staring at all of them. There was Anne, His Mother, most of his family and a few friends. But then something caught his eye.

_Contact- Gee_

_Email- _

_Mobile- 317-9964_

_Home- 1-507-567-9892_

All of his info, saved. Some of the stuff was probably outdated. But it was worth a try. He opened the email hesitantly.

_Subject: Hey._

_Hey Gee-_

_I was just wondering how things were going. You don't even have to reply if you don't want to, just checking in. I really like the new album and I hope you like the new drummer, that Mike kid. I'm still working on that solo record, Gerardolopy. Remember? Gerard, you make my heart burn. Haha just kidding, good times._

_I hope things are going well with Lindsey and I heard about Bandit, hope she's doing good too. I have a kid of my own and a wife too. They grow up fast, you know?_

_I miss the group; I'm not going to lie._

_-Bob_

Bob bit his lip as his cursor moved around the send button, but he pressed it quick.

"Shit," Bob shook his head, "what am I getting myself into."

Anne walked into the kitchen, "Going to work, sweetie. Love you." She kissed him quickly, then she skipped over to Daisy, kissing the top of her head, "And I love you too!"

"Have a good day," Bob grinned and waved half-heartedly. He looked over to Daisy, who had finished her milk. He smiled and picked her up, moving over to the couch with her and holding her as she belly-laughed at Yo Gabba Gabba. He loved spending time with her, and he hated when Anne always said all he did was dream, because he did love his family… but something was missing. Daisy's long lost uncles were missing.

After 3 hours of Yo Gabba Gabba, Daisy was ready to nap. Bob laid her down and tiptoed to his soundproof drum room and started working on Vampire Money, if he focused, he would be done by tomorrow.

Bob was still practicing when Anne walked in smiling, she kissed his cheek and asked, "Hard at work?"

"Yep," he replied, "hoping to be done by tomorrow. How was your day?"

"Ugh, had to deal with a bunch of returns and shitbags."

"That's too bad," he got up and kissed her forehead, "Don't worry, I'll made dinner." He made his way to Daisy's room and picked her up, bringing her to her highchair to snack on some oatmeal while he made sautéed chicken. Anne sat with her, running her fingers through Daisy's thin hair.

While he waited, he popped open his email, prepared to delete loads of junk mail, when he found this, and his jaw dropped, tears filling his eyes-

_Re: Hey._

_Bob-_

_Things are going great. Mike is fantastic, but he's certainly no Mr. Bob Bryar. How could I forget Gerardolopy?_

_Lindsey is great. About B- well… B is getting stronger every day. I don't know whether to be frightened or excited. Too fast._

_And we miss you, Bob. Y'know, we're on the Honda Civic Tour right now, you should stop by for a show or two, it'd be awesome to see you. _

_With love, Bandit's daddy._

Bob tried to act casual, saving the surprise for dinner. The surprise which Anne would roll her eyes at, but that was ok, Bob was on a buzz and couldn't be disturbed.

"So," Bob tried to hide his smile as he was about to reveal his surprise, "Something happened today."

"Yeah?" Anne blew on a piece of chicken on her fork. "What?"

"Gerard emailed me. He wants me to come to a show or two on their tour."

Anne dropped her fork, "Are you serious?" She smiled.

Bob laughed, "Yeah!"

Tears formed in Anne's eyes and she ran to hug her husband, "That's- that's great! I'm so happy for you! Have you replied to him yet?"

"No, but I will! And I'll say yes!" Bob smiled wide, he was glad she was happy for him.

Daisy clapped her chubby little hands together and giggled, her bright eyes glowing.

Chapter 2

Bob tapped his fingers on the desk his computer sat on, thinking of what to say in reply to Gerard. Of course he wanted to go to a show, he wanted nothing more.

_Re: Re: Hey._

_Gee-_

_Honestly, I'd love nothing more. What days and where? Haha._

_-Bob_

It was short and sweet. He smiled at what he wrote and laid Daisy to bed, her eyelids looked like 1,000 pounds as her sweet little lashes fluttered close. Bob was tired too, and he crawled in his warm bed, holding his wife in his arms and falling asleep.

The next morning he woke up the same way.

_Well are you ready, Ray?_

He smiled and let go of his wife, who was already laying out her blue polo.

"Keep me posted, okay? Text me or something if anything comes up." She smiled tiredly at him and kissed him, Bob pulled her closer and she started giggling, "Not right now, Bob, I have work to do." She kissed the tip of his nose.

Bob ran to Daisy's room, picking her up, she still wasn't awake, so he wrapped her in a blanket, holding her and running to the computer, checking his email.

_Re: Re: Re: Hey._

_Bobert-_

_I'll email you airplane tickets. Just print 'em out. 3 for you, your wife and your kid. Next Wednesday we'll fly you off. The show is on Thursday, so you can chill at my house._

_We can't wait to see you; the group are practically pissing themselves._

_-Gee_

Bob chuckled at the email, he was so grateful. He missed everyone. As his wife walked into the kitchen, Bob read her the email. "That's great," Anne smiled wide, "I can't wait, and apparently neither can Daisy." She said sarcastically and looked over to her daughter who was sleeping. Laughing, she left for work.

Bob refreshed his email and printed out 3 plane tickets. Wednesday 2:00.

"Unca Gee? Unca Way? Unca Fwank? Unca Mikey?" Daisy said tiredly, waking up. Her first words being dada, her second being mama, this was impressive in comparison.

"Yeah baby! We're going to go see them."

"Unca."

"Yes, sweetie. Are you excited?"

"Yuh." Daisy, her little toothless mouth smiling.

After feeding and playing with Daisy, Bob finished Vampire Money. He sat on the couch until Anne got home and they had family time.

Bob had never felt better in his life.

Chapter 3

It was Wednesday, and Anne took time off to go. It was 12:00 now, they needed to get to the airport ASAP, good thing it wasn't far away.

Daisy was excited that day, she knew where she was going. She looked extra bright in her little pink dress.

"Are you gonna go see your uncles?" Bob asked her.

"Yuh!" She jumped. "Yuh! Yuh! Yuh!"

They all slept most of the plane ride, getting ready for the long weekend ahead of them. They'd be coming home on Friday.

When they landed, they had to look around a bit until they saw them. At first, Bob didn't recognize them. Gerard had turned in his black everything for cherry hair and a bright yellow shirt. Mikey's awkward teenager apparel turned to blonde and brown hair and a tight white tee. Ray, well Ray looked the same, just a little brighter smile. Finally, Frank chopped off his fangirl locks.

And Lindsey was standing close to her husband's side, she turned her jet black locks for short strawberry, and a red vest for a blouse.

Mikey was looking down awkwardly until his saw his long lost brother, to which he raised his head, gave a big smile and yelled, "Hey Bob!"

Frank whipped his head around and smiled crookedly, "Hey dude."

Ray tried to hide his excitement, but his afro bounced as he jumped up and down.

And finally, Gerard gave him a big hug, followed by Lindsey's hug and kiss.

The guys took turns introducing themselves and hugging Anne, and, of course, tickling Daisy. Daisy knew them all by name again, but she seemed to take a liking to Ray, who held her for most of the time. And Anne enjoyed making small talk with Lindsey on the way to Gee's house in the car.

"So, how've you been, Bob?" Gerard asked, "Apparently busy, with the kid and all." He chuckled.

"Yeah, it's been great… dammit," Bob looked happy until he saw some fans snapping pictures here and there, he covered Daisy's face.

"You do that too?" Frank smiled, "I always try to hide Cherry and Lily from them."

"Yeah, now you know how I felt back then," Bob laughed.

"Some pictures are on Twitter of Bandit," Gerard shrugged, "Not a lot though, we try to keep it private."

"Hey," Lindsey turned around and pointed at her husband, smiling, "She looked extra cute that day, I had to." Everyone laughed.

By then, they were at the Way residence. They could see Bandit in the window, with her Grandma Donna behind her.

When they got inside, Frank grabbed a soda and plopped on the couch, followed by Ray and Mikey, Gerard was getting Bandit, and Anne and Lindsey were downstairs. Bob stood there awkwardly, waiting to see Bandit.

Kicking, Bandit was handed off to Bob, who bounced her up and down. "Bob! Bob!" Bandit pointed at him. "Bandit! Bandit!" Bob pointed back, chuckling.

Mikey got up and made a few boxes of Mac and Cheese, Bob smiled as he saw his Mikey's awkward knees.

"You have any kids, Mikey?" Bob asked.

"Nope," Mikey replied, "I want some sometime though." He smiled and handing a plate of the pasta to Bob.

"What about you, Ray?"

"Naw." Ray laughed, "It'd be cool to have one or two."

They all sat on the couch and practically inhaled the gooey pasta.

"Mikey misses you the most," Frank said, trying to hide a giggle.

"Shut up, Frank," Mikey punched his arm playfully.

"You wanna go?" Frank lunged and smiled at him. Mikey just smiled and punched him again.

"Do you ever miss it, Bob?" Ray ask, cradling a very tired Daisy in his arms.

"Duh," Bob laughed.

"I mean, would you ever go back?"

"I… no… I don't think so. I mean, look at Frank, his kids are getting out there and so are Gee's, I just don't want to put Daisy up to that, and I know it will happen, it happens to everyone."

"That's why I'm hesitating," Ray said, and looked down at Daisy for a while, "That's why I'm stealing her." He grinned a little.

Bob was happy to be there and see everyone, but he was just the tiniest bit homesick. He heard Anne come upstairs and lay next to him at around 4:00 am, and he immediately felt better.

Chapter 4

Bob woke up at 2:00, alone, just him, Anne and Daisy on the couch. He heard some sounds and creeped in the bathroom to investigate.

"Sup bro," Ray said, teasing his afro.

Bob chuckled, "Sup. What're you guys doing?"

"Getting ready for the show tonight." Frank replied for Ray.

Bob nodded and stole Ray's brush, brushing throw his own blonde hair, it was different from The Black Parade days, it was short now.

"Shit!" Mikey yelled, looking at his phone, "Mike is sick, we have no drummer."

Gerard kicked the cabinet.

Now was Bob's time to shine.

"I can do it." He said sheepishly.

They all looked at him, Mikey asked, "Really?"

"Yeah, I know every song," Bob shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

Frank clapped, "Yeah! Let's do it, for old time's sake!"

Gerard grinned, "Let's do it!" He tossed Bob a bright pink shirt and black corduroy pants. "Get that on. We need a killjoy name for you."

There was a pause.

"Acid Nightmare." Ray said.

"Woah, Ray, that's good," said Bob.

"Quiet genius, remember?"

"You guys need to get going," Lindsey popped in, "Nice shirt, Bob."

"You mean Acid Nightmare?" Bob winked.

"Acid Nightmare, that's sexy," Anne walked in and kissed his cheek, "Now hurry, Acid."

Chapter 5

They were in the dressing room, doing their warm-ups, an hour before they were supposed to go on. Gerard was staring at Bob, "Something is missing. You're not crazy enough." He yelled without turning his head, "Linds, hair dye." She ran to him, "What color?"

Gerard looked at Bob and winked, "Green."

After tousling through his hair, waiting 20 minutes, and shoving his head under the tap, the boys and Bob were ready to go. Bob looked less than excited, but on the inside he was exploding.

A backstage man knocked on their door and said, "We're ready."

They all sighed and gathered in a circle. Expecting a deep speech from Gerard, all they got was, "Let's kick ass."

Bob heard the fans cheering as he got behind the drum set. This was what he missed the most, the fans.

"Killjoys!" Gerard screamed at the fans, "We have a special guest tonight… and that guest is… ACID NIGHTMARE!" He screamed and the fans screamed back. "Now… let's all welcome him! And this song, OH this song, Killjoys, is called, I'M NOT OKAY!"

Bob picked up the familiar drum beginning. Just like old times. He smiled as he rocked out the whole song. He rushed through the whole set list. He was so happy to be playing with them again, but something didn't feel quite right, he didn't seem to fit in. He kind of missed being dark, but here he was in his pink tee and green hair. He didn't know if this was him.

Then the ending song came, Vampire Money.

"Well are you ready, Ray?"

"Yeah."

"How 'bout you, Frank?"

"Oh I'm there baby."

"How 'bout you, Mikey?"

"F*ckin' ready."

"Well, I think I'm alright. 1-2-3-4!"

There was no Bob. That hit him hard. There was no Bob anymore. It had been a while since they moved on, I guess they just got used to no Bob, and Bob got used to no more them. It could never be the same and he was fine with it, he was happy with it.

After the show was done, Gerard took Bob to the side.

Gerard shook his head, "We miss you, man."

"I know. I do miss you guys too, a lot."

"And we know you don't like the cameras… or the publicity… so will you just… Move closer to us? We… we miss you. I wanna be best friends again." He smiled.

"Best friends forever, right?"

Gerard's smile was huge and he ran to the dressing room. "HE WILL! HE WILL!" The band starting screaming with joy, and Lindsey started clapping.

"We're moving here," Bob hugged Anne close, "I mean… Please?"

Anne smiled, "I already knew, Lindsey told me."

Lindsey winked and waved at Bob.

"So we can?"

"Of course we can, silly." She hugged Bob back.

Daisy started squealing and clapping, "UNCA! UNCA! UNCA! AUNT LINNIE TOO!"

Ray scooped her up and tickled her, "You're home, baby!"


End file.
